Kodak adds digital perks to film camera

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Four years ago, the world's photography giants launched an entire new line of cameras and film called the Advanced Photo System, heralding it as the biggest breakthrough in consumer photography since 35mm technology emerged in 1926.

BEN DOBBIN

Published 12:00 am, Monday, November 6, 2000

The much-ballyhooed photo system hasn't lived up to expectations -- not by a long shot.

Americans are still three times more likely to choose a 35mm camera over an APS model. And digital cameras are gaining rapidly in popularity, threatening to supersede all comers.

Now, at last, along comes a first-of-its-kind film camera adorned with digital perks that Eastman Kodak Co., the biggest of those giants, is hoping will begin to give APS the big lift it has lacked.

The Advantix Preview uses traditional silver-halide film -- capable of producing pretty prints -- but also has a liquid-crystal-display viewfinder that allows shutterbugs to see the picture they've just captured. Press a button or two and unwanted snapshots can be discarded.

"This is a good way to get people using film cameras used to the concept of instant review of your pictures, which has really been a big selling point for the digital camera market," said industry analyst Ed Lee of Lycra Research in Newtonville, Mass. "Digital cameras are gaining more and more mainstream acceptance, but they're still a long way away from reaching the average snapshooter."

The Preview delivers an old-fashioned photo without relying on a computer, imaging software and inkjet printer. Storing images digitally -- on computer disks or portable memory devices -- is "really not as convenient yet as dropping off your film at your local drugstore," Lee said.

The Advantix Preview started popping up in photo-specialty stores in late October, and will be available in discount emporiums like Wal-Mart this month with a price tag of $300 to $350. Analysts say digital models that produce similar-quality images start at around $400 to $500.

Kodak, the world's biggest photography company, is pouring $500 million a year into digital research to keep pace with rivals in that highly competitive field. U.S. sales of digital cameras, meanwhile, could soar from 2.6 million in 1999 to 4.3 million this year, predicts InfoTrends Research Group Inc.

At the same time, Kodak cannot afford to lose ground in non-digital consumer photography, which accounts for half of its $14.1 billion in sales. That's where the Advantix Preview fits in.

APS cameras -- co-developed by Kodak, Canon, Fuji, Minolta and Nikon -- produce pictures in a variety of sizes on the same roll of 24mm film. They feature a drop-in cartridge to eliminate loading errors and a magnetic stripe on the film for ordering extra copies -- a largely dormant feature that comes into play with the Preview.

If users fancy the 1.8-inch, color LCD image created by the camera's electronic sensor, they can press a button to instantly order up to nine copies of it.

Doing so will save money "because they get reprints at the first-time printing rate," said Steve Malloy Desormeaux, worldwide product manager for Kodak Advantix cameras. "On the flip side, if it's a picture you don't like, you don't have to pay to get it printed."

Options like that are clearly popular with consumers, who take about three times more pictures with digital cameras each year than as they do with film cameras, according to Kodak. Even armed with the zero-print option, surveys found that Preview users ordered more prints overall, which means more money for Kodak.

One drawback: Only the latest snapshot can be displayed on the LCD screen.

Future models will likely allow all the photos to be shown, just as digital models do.

If the Preview should prove popular and production costs fall, future adaptations could be fitted with a higher-resolution electronic sensor and "a true hybrid" camera might emerge, said Don Franz, publisher of Photofinishing News.

"On a worldwide basis, I don't expect APS to really exhibit much growth from where it is right now," he said.

APS stumbled out of the gate in 1996, beset by production and marketing hurdles, and still lags far behind 35mm cameras in sales.

Last year, Americans bought 10.8 million 35mm cameras and 3.3 million APS units. Worldwide, APS accounts for no more than 15 percent of conventional camera sales, Franz said.

Herbert Keppler, publishing director for American Photo and Popular Photography magazines, thinks the co-developers made the mistake of churning out dozens of camera models under different brand names and ended up confusing consumers.

"Basically, the new system did not have much 'new' about it -- they look too much like 35mm cameras and use the same film as before," he said, noting that the only outstanding success was the untypical, credit card-sized Elph camera made by Canon.

Good marketing is the key to success for any product and "all the way along with APS, they have not publicized and promoted it properly," Keppler said.

"The big question is, 'Is it too late?'" Keppler asked. "Nobody knows at what point but eventually, digital is going to take over."